No Avengers, No Problem: Defenders Review

Our Rating

After carefully laying the foundation of it’s Netflix solo series through Daredevil, Jessica Jones, LukeCage, and IronFist, Marvel brings them all together to face a threat they cannot overcome individually in exceptional style in The Defenders. The opening credits is a brilliant blueprint of red, blue (with a touch of purple), yellow, and green, which obviously represents our heroes, incorporating and tying them together with the city streets they are destined to defend. Both visually and musically it builds upon itself and the other series themes as it crescendos into it’s own theme, which reminds us of the Avengers with a darker tone.

The series begins by bringing us up to speed on whats been going on with each character while introducing us to the villain’s and their notorious plans for New York City. Sigourney Weaver’s Alexandra is a brand new character who is the smart, savvy, and sophisticated leader of an ancient global criminal organization known as The Hand. We’ve seen them and some of the other leaders of The Hand in Daredevil and Iron Fist, whose overarching roles are revealed here. The world building they’ve done really pays of in this series as the ties and relationships between many of these characters become the threads that tether and bring them together. As they go their separate ways it will likely serve a similar purpose when they are needed again. It’s very obvious through their own series and even more so here that they very much enjoy doing things on their own terms. Though it doesn’t take them long to realize that for the betterment of their city, and those closest to them, they must trust one another to overcome the odds.

As far as I’m concerned, The Defenders is a huge success. I thoroughly enjoyed each series on its own, yes even Iron Fist, and find the formulas and threads used to tie and bring this universe together to be just as great as those used by their big screen counterparts. I felt that the actors performances and chemistry between all the characters to be spot on, especially with Luke Cage and Iron Fist. I can already see (and hope) Heroes for Hire being done in the style of Lethal Weapon. Honestly, I was getting tired of The Hand and didn’t think I would enjoy it as much but Marvel proved me wrong. I can’t praise them enough for the positioning of characters throughout the singular series and the purpose they end up serving for this huge ensemble piece. Everyone has a place, role, and stake in this world and I can’t get enough of it. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store for these characters and those yet to be introduced for the next phase of Marvel’s Netflix series, begining with season one of The Punisher. The Defenders is now available in it’s entirety for binging on Netflix. Enjoy.